Assessing Democratic Stability in Pakistan: The Role of Institutions, Civil-Military Relations, and Youth Participation

Abstract

This study considers the institutional and societal processes affecting the stability of democracy in Pakistan and specifically how historical trends of military interference, poor civilian institutions and dominance by elites limit democratic stability in the country. The mixed-methods approach was used with the help of the theoretical prism of institutionalism. Historical and institutional analysis was used at the qualitative level whereas a structured survey was carried out based on the BS and MS students based on their various departments at the GC Women University Sialkot. The formula provided by Cochran was used and the sample size determined was 384, which was obtained and the number of valid responses obtained was 384. Summative and inference statistics were used to evaluate perception about governance, judiciary, civil-military, media and public participation. The results show that, Pakistan has a constitutional democratic system but the application is still not completely democratic because of a partisanized judiciary, imbalance between civil military, inconsistency of elections and fewer civic involvement. But the data also indicate the positive trends in more youth engagement, online activism, and transparency demanded by the population. The research provides political players, civil society, academic, and the media to work in unison and to improve on the institutional integrity, inclusivity in governance, and participatory democratic culture in Pakistan.